Customer Reviews

Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Chris Baker is the preeminent travel writer covering Cuba today. His guidebooks for National Geographic Traveler and Moon Publishing are biblical Baedekers for anyone traveling to the island. "Mi Moto Fidel," his book-length journey around the island on a BMW motorcycle, reads like a Hemingwayan novel -- and has garnered prestigious writing awards. Now, with "Cuba Classics," Baker has taken his already impressive act to a new level, displaying his skill as a photographer, which is nothing short of artistry. His stunning photographs of vintage American autos -- so plentiful in Cuba -- are not only wonderful depictions of cars not seen in the U.S. for decades, but are the subjects of photos that demonstrate a photographer's instinctively artistic command of format, color, tone, and lighting. Settings for the autos often speak to the greater issue of the Cuban landscape, both urban and rural. It's a must book for car buffs, for anyone interested in photographic artistry, for anyone enamoured of beautiful writing. As a long-time fan of Baker's journalism, I have found myself asking what else could he possibly do to present another aspect of this island country he knows and loves? "Cuba Classics" is the latest answer to that question. Kudos.

Yes, we've all seen great photos of classic cars in Cuba--but this book will make you swoon. Your knees will buckle, and you will become feverish with desire to get yourself to Cuba as soon as possible. Magnificent.

I love this book! The photography is poor, the printing quality could be better, but the cars are the stars! When it arrived I was stunned to see all the old cars, cars made back when America made unforgettable cars. Now you can't tell one American car from another and they are all ho-hum.
The photos also show some of Cuba, a beautiful island that we should never have lost as our friend. The photos, history and stories captivated me and I just sat down and spent two hours reading the book. I didn't want put it down.

I have had this book for over a year now, and everyone who has looked at the book falls in love with it! If you adore vintage cars this is the book for you! I found the quality of the picture and the book overall to be excellent!

Christopher Baker might fancy himself a photographer, but in this book, he overreached himself. Poor photography technique and lack of skills are evident throughout all of the pictures. You name it, composition, shooting into bright light causing almost everything in the image to be underexposed, out of focus, flash set wrong, depth of field off, its just plain horrible. luckily I didn't pay too much for it. Soon I hope I can go and take better pictures. Don't spend any money on this book. There's better out there. BTW the print quality is also wretched, paper is not thick enough or the right type, so it all has a weird wrinkled feel to it.